


What's a Boy to Do

by crimsontheory



Series: Study Buddies [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Blow Jobs, Friends With Benefits, Hand Jobs, M/M, Smut, Study Date, i finally have more than one tag aldsfsk, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:41:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25391044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsontheory/pseuds/crimsontheory
Summary: Harry and Louis add a new twist to their study dates.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: Study Buddies [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817770
Comments: 20
Kudos: 92
Collections: Prompt 3.4: Sin





	What's a Boy to Do

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is the third part to a series and if you haven't read the first two parts, please do so before starting this one. You can find them [here.](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817770)
> 
> I had fun writing this one and it gets a little more exciting in this 'chapter' and those pesky things called feelings start to come into play. And another one of the boys makes an appearance! 
> 
> Apologies for any mistakes, this is un-beta'd!
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "sin". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sin), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1-3), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/622306139518926848/wordplay-2020-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt).
> 
> Just like the first two, the title for this is taken from Real by Years & Years.

The words on the page were starting to blur together and Louis was pretty sure he just wrote down the same word five times in a row. With a quick glance over to his notebook, he confirmed that he did, in fact, just write down the same word, not five but _six_ times in a row. God, he was so stressed he couldn’t even take notes anymore.

It had already been a long day. Louis had to stay after class to talk to his professor about an assignment and then he had to give Liam a ride to work because Liam’s car was in the shop, so when he finally showed up at Harry’s, it was a few hours later than normal. By the time he got there, Thomas had already left to see his girlfriend so they had the place to themselves and Louis wanted to take full advantage of that. He wanted to take over the living room, maybe even have Harry make another one of those brilliant pizzas, and do absolutely _nothing._ They’d been going at this new study thing for a full week now and Louis was so over it. His brain needed a break. 

He could feel the dull throbbing behind his eyes, the warning signs of the beginning of a headache, and he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing his eyes shut to try and push it away. When he opened his eyes again, he looked over at the desk tucked into the corner of the opposite side of the room and saw Harry hunched over it scribbling away in his own notebook, bottom lip caught between his teeth in concentration. He knew the way Harry was sitting was going to be a nightmare on his back later and he told him just that, but all Harry did was a grunt in acknowledgement.

With another glance down at his textbook, the words still a massive blob of black ink on the page, Louis sighed and flopped back onto Harry’s bed, using his feet to kick his book off the bed. “I think I just need to get laid,” he said, throwing an arm across his eyes, trying to shut out as much light as possible to prevent his headache from fully developing.

He’d been so focused on school the last couple years that he didn’t even have time for a hookup let alone an actual boyfriend, so to say it had been a while was a bit of an understatement. Sure, he had his right hand which he did use from time to time, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t that bone-deep satisfying satedness you got from an orgasm with another person, which was exactly what he needed right now. It was the only thing he could think of that could truly relax him and relieve some of his stress.

The awful squeaky sound of Harry’s desk chair swivelling around caused Louis to open his eyes and lift his head off the pillow. Harry was sitting there, staring directly at Louis, but vacantly like he was lost in thought. The pen he was writing with earlier now in his mouth. Suddenly, the cloud in his mind cleared and his eyes focused on Louis. The pen in his mouth came out and he said very quickly, “I could help you with that.”

Louis propped himself up on his elbows and scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. “You mean you know someone you can set me up with?”

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head and then paused like he was thinking. “Well maybe, if you wanted that, but I mean that _I_ —” He placed the palm of his hand flat against his chest. “—could help you. Like _me_.”

“Wait,” Louis said, now fully sitting up. “What?”

“Oh,” Harry squirmed in his seat. “Unless you want, like, a girl. I think I know one who—” 

“What? Harry, god no, I’m very gay. I thought that was blatantly obvious.”

“Well, I mean, I always _assumed_ so,” Harry said, still squirming a bit, clearly uncomfortable. “But you’ve never explicitly said and the way you reacted to _me_ helping you I thought maybe I didn’t have the right bits, you know.”

Louis snorted at Harry’s cheeks turning a bright pink while he gestured towards his crotch. “You very much have the right bits, Harry, don’t worry about that. Just...us sleeping together? Wouldn’t that be weird? Cause we’re like mates.”

“It’s only weird if you make it weird,” Harry clarified. “It doesn't have to mean anything. There'd be no strings attached. Just sex. A way for us to relieve some stress when we need it.”

Louis eyed Harry up and down as he thought about it. Harry was _obviously_ very attractive, anyone could see that. He was incredibly good looking, but Louis never gave it any more thought than that. He’d never seen Harry as anything other than a friend. He could appreciate the beauty of another man without actually being attracted to him and that was the way it had always been with Harry. But sex was _complicated_ and there was a very fine line between just sex and having feelings. Louis had always been good at never crossing that line, but then again the only people he had ever slept with more than once were people he was in a relationship with. He’d had a few one-night stands, what single university student hadn’t, and it was easy to not develop feelings for them if he never saw them again.

But he saw Harry _all the time_ , especially now, he’d seen Harry every single say for the past, like, ten days. The only thing more awkward than them having sex together would be them developing feelings for each other. Surely, Harry felt the same otherwise he wouldn’t have suggested it and getting off with someone as pretty as Harry didn’t necessarily sound like a terrible idea.

“Okay,” Louis agreed. Hopefully, he wouldn’t come to regret this. He’d finally gotten back his friendship with Harry and he didn’t want to completely ruin it with something like this.

“Okay?” Harry echoed, confusion written across his face, like he couldn’t actually believe Louis was agreeing to this.

“Yeah,” Louis shrugged. “No strings attached, right? Could be fun.”

Harry nodded, more to himself than anything, and used the pen he was still holding to keep his place in his textbook before he flipped it closed. He wiped his palms against the thighs of his jeans, took a deep breath, and then turned to face Louis. “Should we start now?”

Oh, fuck. Of course, they would start right now, but for some reason that didn’t even cross Louis’ mind. He thought they would just discuss the _possibility_ of it today and then maybe start tomorrow or next week or something. He hadn’t even had the chance to fully process this yet and Harry wanted to start _now_. “No time like the present, Harold,” Louis said. 

Might as well get it over with. No, that sounded bad. It wasn’t as if he was dreading it, it wasn’t something that he wanted to be over with quickly like ripping off a plaster or something, he was just a little _nervous_. Which was a weird feeling for him.

Harry slowly walked closer to where Louis was perched on the edge of the bed, lip caught between his teeth. He came to stop when he was standing in between Louis’ legs, he blinked down at him, uncertainty in his eyes, before he placed a hand on the mattress on either side of Louis’ hips. “This okay?”

Louis swallowed. “Yeah,’ he breathed. He already knew Harry’s eyes were green, but being this close to him he could tell they were _really_ green. They even had little flecks of gold in them that Louis had never noticed before. God, they were pretty. 

He watched as Harry licked his lips, somehow making them an even brighter cherry red than they usually were. As Harry leaned in, Louis realized a little too late what was about to happen and he turned his head to the right at the last second and Harry’s lips landed sloppily against Louis’ cheek.

Harry immediately stood back, his body rigid and hands twisting in the hem of his t-shirt. His cheeks were dark red from embarrassment and Louis felt like the worst person on the planet. “I'm sorry,” Harry mumbled, eyes glued to the mattress just off to Louis’ right.

Louis went to reach out in comfort, but he didn’t even know what he was reaching out for or if Harry even wanted him to touch him, so he awkwardly let his hand drop into his lap. “You don’t have to be sorry,” he said. “Just maybe no kissing on the lips. It’s a little too couple-y, yeah?” What was he even saying? It sounded like complete bullshit in his head, but he had to draw a line _somewhere_ if he didn’t want things to be awkward between them.

“Yeah, okay,” Harry nodded. “Makes sense.” It _didn’t_ make sense, it was a stupid fucking excuse because Louis was a coward. “I’m sorry.”

This time, Louis did reach out and he gripped onto Harry’s arm pulling him towards him until Harry stumbled against the edge of the bed and fell into him, both of them falling back onto the mattress. “Stop apologizing,” Louis told him. “Now, let’s get on with it.”

That made Harry smile which, in turn, made Louis smile. _This_ was the Harry he wanted; the cute and confident one, not the shy and awkward one. It wasn’t until Harry sat up that Louis realized the position they were in and he lost his breath. He was laid out on his back with Harry straddling his hips. Harry was bigger than him, height wise and he was much broader—you could land a damn plane on his back—but it was as if he made himself smaller just to fit with Louis. 

“Is it just no kissing on the lips or is it everywhere else too?” Harry asked.

“Just the lips,” Louis confirmed, wriggling to get comfortable. “Anywhere else is fine.” He was an idiot, like kissing anywhere else was going to be any different than kissing on the lips. But he’d already said it, he couldn’t exactly take it back now.

Smiling at that answer, Harry leaned down and brushed his lips against Louis’ neck and then attached to them the tender spot just underneath Louis’ jawline that always made him weak. He was suddenly glad that he was lying down because his knees definitely would have given out. It was like Harry had previously known about that spot with the way he was sucking against it and gently laving over it with his tongue.

“Oops,” Harry said, pulling back, his lips a deep red and slick with spit. “There’s probably going to be a mark there later, sorry.”

He didn’t look like he was sorry and Louis honestly didn’t care, couldn’t even bring himself to care right now. Harry reached for the bottom of Louis’ shirt and pushed it up until it was bunched up underneath Louis’ armpits and placed a tender kiss right in the center of Louis’ chest. Harry left slow kisses across the expanse of his chest until he darted his tongue out to swirl around Louis’ left nipple.

 _Oh_. That was new. Louis gasped as his back arched off the mattress. Louis didn’t even know that was a thing, no one had ever done that to him before. He didn’t even realize nipples could be that sensitive, but every swipe of Harry’s tongue sent more blood rushing to his cock.

Then, Harry closed his lips around the nipple and moved his tongue in tight little circles around it, even _tugged it with his teeth_ , and Louis was losing his fucking mind. Harry was rutting down into Louis’ lap so his cock was getting some sweet friction and that along with the fucking magic Harry was doing to his chest, Louis thought he could quite possibly come at any second and he had to push Harry away.

“You liked that.” It wasn’t a question. Harry had a cocky smirk on his face as he said it and looked incredibly pleased with himself.

“Did not,” Louis lied, but Harry could see right through it because he tugged at Louis’ other nipple with his fingers and giggled when it caused Louis to buck his hips up and jostle Harry in his lap.

“Can I—” Harry asked, his words coming out rough as he bit down on his bottom lip. “Can I blow you? Please.” 

Fucking hell, those words coming from Harry were making Louis’ head spin. He even said _please_. What was even happening? Louis didn’t think he’s ever been this turned on before they even got to anything. He had to squeeze his eyes shut for a second just to compose himself. “Fuck, yeah. Okay.”

Harry scooted down Louis’ body just far enough so he could easily get to the button of Louis’ jeans. He fiddled with the waistband for a moment before flicking his eyes up to meet Louis’ as if he was silently asking for permission and Louis nodded at him to continue. They worked together to get Louis’ jeans and pants off, Louis lifting his hips off the bed as Harry tugged them down his legs.

Maybe he should have felt uncomfortable, vulnerable even, with one of his best friends seeing him like this; completely naked except for his shirt which was still bunched up under his arms. But with the way Harry was looking at him, like something that resembled awe, he felt the complete opposite. 

Harry crawled in between Louis’ legs, placing his hands on his knees to push Louis’ thighs further apart, and inched closer until he was face level with Louis’ cock. Louis barely had time to take in that sight before Harry’s lips were sinking down over his cock, enveloping him in warm, wet heat.

“God,” Louis groaned as Harry dragged his tongue along his dick. It felt incredible, better than anything Louis had ever felt before. He tried to keep his eyes open, to watch the way Harry’s plump lips stretched around him as he bobbed up and down, but the pleasure was too much and he couldn’t help but succumb to it, his eyes fluttering shut.

A hand wraps around the base of Louis' cock, stroking gently as Harry’s mouth suckled at the head, flattening his tongue to swipe across the slit. Louis threw an arm over his eyes when Harry ran his tongue along the sensitive underside of his cock, too overwhelmed by the feeling.

Suddenly, Louis felt a soft touch against his hole. The double sensation of Harry swallowing him down paired with the gentle press of Harry’s finger was too much to handle too quickly and he only managed a soft moan of Harry’s name in warning before he was coming into Harry’s mouth. Harry sucked him through it and _swallowed_. Bloody fucking hell, Louis thought he might _die._

When Louis was finally able to catch his breath, he opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows. Harry was still on his knees in between Louis’ legs, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand, a dimpled smile on his face.

“Hey,” he said to Louis, his voice absolutely wrecked.

Louis made grabby hands towards him. “C’mere.”

Harry crawled onto the bed, knees either side of Louis’ body, until he was hovering over Louis’ chest. Louis made quick work of undoing Harry’s jeans and shoving them and his pants down just far enough for his cock to bob free. Christ, he was big, and Louis’ first thought upon seeing it was how it would feel inside him. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how amazing that would be.

“I’m already really close,” Harry warned. “I kind of enjoyed sucking you off a little too much.”

Shit, Harry couldn’t just _say_ things like that. Louis’ spent cock twitched against his thigh and he took a deep breath to calm himself. He wrapped a hand around Harry’s, he felt thick and warm in his grasp, and began to stroke hastily. Harry’s mouth dropped open, the most gorgeous sounds tumbling out of it, he sounded so good like that.

As he Louis jerked him off, he watched Harry's eyes fall shut, his head tipping back, exposing the long line of his neck. Louis was tempted to get his mouth on him, suck a mark into his skin just like Harry had done to him, his jawline was literal sin. But with the way Harry's thighs started to tremble around him, he knew Harry wasn't lying about already being close. Next time though. Next time for sure Louis was going to leave marks over every inch of Harry's body.

It was only a few moments later when Harry came, spilling over Louis’ chest. “Sorry,” Harry said once he came down. “Let me clean you up.” 

While Harry was in the bathroom, Louis expected the shame to come flooding in, but it never did. He’d just gotten off with his best friend, no emotions involved whatsoever and he felt fine and incredibly relaxed. Hopefully, everything would still feel that way in the morning.

As Harry wiped each of them down with a wet flannel, he shyly asked if Louis would like to spend the night and Louis graciously accepted. Harry heated up some leftover pasta for them to have for dinner because he was too worn out to cook anything and they watched a movie on Harry’s laptop in bed while they ate.

It was a single bed, which would be small for two people anyway, but it was especially small when you were sharing it with someone who had octopus limbs. Surprisingly, Louis was comfortable being pressed up against Harry’s side and Harry’s bed felt like laying on a cloud anyway and sleep quickly took over him before the movie even finished.

Sunlight streaming through the window woke Louis up much earlier than he would have liked the following morning. Usually, that was never a problem because he had blackout curtains, but he must have forgotten to close them before he fell asleep last night. He was also really hot, like _sweltering_ , he thought he might actually be sweating to death. 

Blinking his eyes open, Louis slowly took in his surroundings and realized he wasn’t even in his room at all; he was still at Harry’s. And the reason he was sweating was because Harry was literally wrapped around him from head to toe, his chest pressed fully against Louis’ back. He extracted himself from Harry’s limbs as carefully as he could, trying not to wake him. 

He crawled out of bed, tiptoeing across the room to grab his clothes from off the floor. As he pulled his jeans up he turned around to face the bed and saw Harry lying there, bare-chested and peacefully asleep, and everything from the night before came rushing back. Flashes of sinful lips and sweaty skin and his gut twisted with shame. _There_ it was. Yeah, things were definitely going to be awkward now.

After he was fully dressed, Louis ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook and scribbled down a note for Harry telling him that he left but would come back for their usual study date later today if Harry still wanted him to and left it laying on his desk.

Louis gathered the rest of his things and walked to the bedroom door. He didn’t know what time Thomas came home last night, he didn’t even _hear_ him come home, but he was a little preoccupied. He was hoping Thomas stayed at his girlfriend’s place last night or if he did come home, he was at least still asleep. Unfortunately, they were very similar and Louis knew Thomas would give him shit if he saw him creeping out of Harry’s room early in the morning.

Quitely, Louis pulled open the door and stepped out but he stopped dead in his tracks after shutting it behind him, guess he wasn’t going to be getting out of there scot-free. Leaning against the back of the couch with a bowl of cereal in his hand and a shit-eating grin on his face, was Thomas. “You two have fun last night?”

All the energy Louis had to do right then, was flip Thomas off as he walked by. He ignored the cackle that followed him as he grabbed a banana out of the fruit bowl in the kitchen and was out the front door.

It was still fairly early by the time Louis made it back to his flat and he knew his roommates would still be sleeping. He could easily slip in and head straight to his room for a couple more hours of sleep before he had to be in class. He unlocked the door and hung his keys on the hook in the entryway, kicking his shoes off in the direction of the shoe rack. Liam tried to do the right thing by purchasing the shoe rack, but with Niall and Louis both living here—two of the messiest people in the world—it was pretty much a lost cause. The only shoes that ever ended up on the shoe rack were Liam’s.

“Where have you been, young man?”

Louis nearly jumped out of his skin when Niall’s voice startled him. He turned the corner into the kitchen where Niall was sitting at their wonky table eating breakfast.

“What are you doing up so early?” Louis asked, ignoring Niall’s question and heading straight for the kettle.

“I’ve got my lab today,” Niall answered. Louis sighed, he had forgotten it was Thursday, the day Niall had his early morning lab. “There’s still some eggs and bacon left if you want some. Now stop dodging my question. Where were you?”

Who did Niall think he was? Louis’ mum? Why did he all of a sudden care where Louis had been? “I spent the night at Harry’s.”

“Wait. You spent the night at Harry’s?” Niall said slowly, like he didn’t just hear Louis say those exact words. “Did you two _fuck_?” He whispered the last word, eyes darting around the room like he was afraid someone would overhear. They were the only ones in the room. Liam was probably in his bedroom right now, but most likely he was fast asleep, so the two of them were literally the only ones that could hear.

“Why are you whispering?” Louis set the kettle to boil while he grabbed a plate from the cabinet and piled it high with Niall’s leftovers. The banana he took from Harry’s wasn’t nearly enough. “But no we didn’t fuck. Well,” he paused. “Not technically.”

Niall narrowed his eyes at him. “So you two fooled around? Must have, that giant mark on your neck is a dead giveaway.”

Fuck, he’d forgotten about that. Louis slapped his hand against his neck, effectively covering the mark. “Yes,” he sighed, starting to get annoyed with Niall’s pestering. “Why are you being so bloody nosey?”

“So are you guys together now?”

“What? No, we’re just friends.” Even though they _were_ just friends, Louis felt like he was lying when he said that. 

“Friends who hooked up,” Niall pointed out. “So friends with benefits?”

Fucking hell, what’s with the third degree. All Louis wanted was to eat and then go back to sleep for a few hours. “No just mates.” Again that didn’t sit right with him. There was a tiny little voice in the back of his head telling him that he was lying, but he _wasn’t_. “Harry said no strings attached.”

Niall stood up from the table and placed his plate in the sink. “Have you not seen that movie with Ashton Kutcher? They end up falling in love, bro.”

 _Love_ , Louis scoffed, that would never happen. He poured the water from the kettle into his mug and then took the seat at the table that Niall just vacated and tucked into his breakfast.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm [ireallysawanagel](http://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com) on tumblr, so come say hi!  
> [Here's](https://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com/post/622908212389232640) a Tumblr post you can reblog if you'd like!


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